Hmm! While I get your points, I think comparing a gas guzzling heavy SUV with a leaf or other small EV is a meaningless comparison. I think the Cruze vs EV Cruze is more valid. To use your method you should also state what the savings are between a big SUV and a SMART. It may be that the SMART is cheaper than the leaf??

I am happy to see the expansion of the plug in hybrid. It will allow many of us to put an electric into our mix.

I have a short commute less than 8 miles each way great but when I need to do a service call it can go to 600 miles+, beach 200, etc.. So the extended range offered when needed is great. The other option is just 2 expensive, have a commuter car (All electric) and a seperate car for when I need to go those extra miles.

I am hoping this idea expands into larger vechiles like SUV's and Trucks, Again it would allow those people who want the extra power and space sometimes to still enjoy the advantages of Electric when driving shorter commutes.

I didn't mention I already have 4.2KWh of solar panels on my roof. Those cost about $14K after rebates and discounts. My first year electric bill dropped $2k so they will pay off before the 10 year shortest component warranty (the inverter) is up. At the low SCE rate for EV charging I haven't calculated how long adding more panels would take to pay off.

It's not the most efficient as it is a small SUV but I still get from 2.9 to 3.1 miles per KWh. This is real driving. Southern California commuting about 33 miles each way. Driving into the foothills and back ~130 miles on one charge, in traffic and at night. Down to San Diego and around town ~120 miles before recharging overnight. Cost to recharge is $0.17 per KWh at the commercial chargers (at work, hotel in San Diego, Ikea, local Carl's Jr, etc) or as low as $0.09 at home. Cost after rebates and discounts is $30K. Lease (3yr) was no money down, unlimited miles, $440/month (with tax $480) and includes maintenance. Buy at the end of lease $19K. Plenty of power, I don't use the Sport mode to get it past ~87mph. Supposedly it will exceed 100mph but I haven't tested that. Typically only use the partial charge to preserve battery life. It uses Tesla batteries and power train so it has good battery mangement. Overall works great for me.

How do you think electricity is made here in the United States (mostly fossil fuels in case you didn't know the answer). Many people think that because it's electric that no fossil fuels are used which isn't the case.

Regardless of EPAs calculated MPGe, the electricity used to power EVs is domestically made. This has two massive benefits - it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, improves our national security, AND creates jobs!

The EPA rating for the LEAF is correct and I have no beef with that since the testing technique is standard. The penalty for poor driving technique is very high in a very efficient machine, not so for an inefficient gasoline engine where only roughly 20% of the energy of the fuel is converted to traction. At the same time, there is potential to extract high efficiency with an EV as well. I have a 60 mile round trip commute and I charge only to 80% (to reduce battery degradation). I come home with around 15 mile range left. That clearly beats the EPA rated measurement (73 miles) which also assumes charging to 100%. Also, the 24kWhr capacity is not all useable (to protect the battery). Once EVs with 150 mile EPA ranges are available, there should be no range anxiety for most.

Here's another data point. The LEAF I own averages 5.2 mi/kWhr. If I were to convert to an equivalent mpg - it would be 185 mi/gallon. Compared to an ICE getting 25 mpg, my fuel cost is 1/12. I pay around 9c/kWhr with time of use metering.

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

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